Sad, weedy front lawn

[bridgerider]

Whoa...that is some difference! Very nice!!!

[NC211]

As we're all gearing up for a new season and things are starting to green up, I thought I would come back an update this one with how my results held up over winter. I live in the Mid-Atlantic region of the country.

Happy to report, that even though the grass went dormant and yellow, it still remained very dense and "cushy" throughout the winter. We have no thinning spots whatsoever anywhere, nor do we see weeds or any other type of infestation that shouldn't be there (fungus, disease, bugs, etc.) Additionally, as we're into the "April showers", every time it has even marginally rained here over the past two weeks, our driveway looks like a Steven King horror movie with earthworms everywhere! I've never seen this before until this year. Since earthworms are good news for your soil, I am feeling confident for an even more successful season this year, season #2. As it's starting to become active again, it's greening up quickly. I am planning on applying another round of soybean meal, alfalfa meal, and another bag of fescue this weekend to kick off this season right.

Below are a few photos of what I'm using, if anyone else is interested in trying it out this year. This is my stash that'll be going onto the lawn this weekend. The bag leaning against the others is just a basic bag of fescue grass seed.

I've also added two photos for a before/after of my back yard from last year. Don't mind the wild child in the photos (my son)! The one of him in the pool, is what my back yard essentially looked like around May of last year. The one of him kicking the ball, was taken the second week of October of last year.

Additionally, our yard is approximately .29 acre in size. Prior to using this stuff, we could mow it on 1/2 height and bag the clippings with just two of those tall paper grass clipping bags for the trash collection every week. By the end of the season last year, we were up to 5 of those tall paper bags fully stuffed to the top, with the mower now set on the highest setting, every week! I suspect this year, we might hit 7 full bags of grass clippings each week. That's how dense this yard has become. I think it's the soybean meal that really makes the grass seed explode and take hold. I think it's the alfalfa meal that makes it stay healthy and strong.

Why am I such a supporter of this stuff, and rambling on and on and on about it? Because it's organic! Because this doesn't have those questionable chemicals that you see on the labels of the glossy stuff at your big box store. And, because it's not going to harm the water table when it rains. I'm also a big supporter of this because of the cost vs rewards. I spent around $300 last year on this stuff for my yard. The first time I've ever done this, and this is what I got. I spent $700 a year for the two years prior for a contract with a well known lawn care service to come to my house 9 times a year and "treat" my lawn. See that photo of my son in the pool? Look at that grass. That's what $1,400 produced. Look at that photo of him kicking the ball roughly 6 months later. That's what $300 produced. And, as I am beginning to realize now, as the lawn is coming alive again after this harsh winter, it's not going to take another $300 to keep it there. It's healthy, for good. Not healthy until the next "treatment" of some unknown "stuff" some guy is spraying all over my yard. I fired that "service".

If you're interested in finding this stuff, I would call your local feed & tack store and go from there on where to locate it in your area. It's not a Home Depot type of product. It's meant more for actual farmers and such. Each one of those bags weights about 50lbs. Each one was roughly $14 in my area. 5 of each, will cover my entire yard with ease.